A Troll Incursion
by Clueless-Little-Muffin
Summary: On her way out of the city, a night elf makes a quick stop at the Hero's Call Board. Completed.
1. The Call

**A Troll Incursion**

The young night elf pushed through the bustling crowds of Stormwind. She spent the night before at the Gilded Rose and as usual, she woke up in a near panic. Elariia swore she would never get used to waking up in a bed, as weird as that sounded.

She brushed a wispy strand of hair out of her eyes. In her haste to leave the city, she had forgone her pigtails and left her white tresses loose. She was regretting that now that it kept falling in her face.

Just as Elariia shoved out of the mass of citizens, something caught her eye, the Hero's Call Board to be precise.

_The Alliance needs you. Answer the hero's call!_

She barley suppressed a snort. Who in their right minds would be inspired by that? Oh well, she had nothing better to do at the moment, might as well see what the Alliance needed of her. Goddess knew she needed the gold.  
**  
**_**Lost kitten!  
**__  
My darling Opal scampered off into the woods and I'm not sure I could handle the task myself. She went towards Crystal Lake, I need a hero!_

_-Donni Anthania._

Elariia had to roll her eyes at that one. Of course, judging by whatever else was on this board, it might the most well paying job out there. She paused on a formal looking page. _Here we go, official Stormwind stationary. _She skimmed the page.

_A group of trolls, claiming to represent the Darkspear tribe, have arrived at Stormwind Harbour. Our guards are keeping them at bay, for now._

_The Stormwind Harbour Guards are seeking seasoned adventurers for help in removing the trolls from the harbour. Report to Commander Sharp at Stormwind Harbour._

Her eyes flickered to the guards hanging about the Trade District, none of them looked busy, but none were jumping at the chance to confront some trolls either. She grinned and tore the paper down, stuffing it into her pocket. She'd have to make a quick detour to Old Town to pick up her mount, but she'd make it to the harbour in record time.

Elariia had always liked trolls.

* * *

**A/N**

**I was bored and realized I hadn't done this quest yet... For some reason. I know this oneshot was stupid... But I think I might post another chapter of my character doing the rest of the quest.. Don't hate me! *hides***

**Disclaimer: I do not own World of Warcraft. If I did my little sister would probably guilt me into letting you be able to get married or have kids... God, that'd be stupid.**


	2. Missing Emissary

**A/N**

**So... I guess I was lying when I said this was a oneshot. Oh well!**

**Disclaimer: Not mine!  
**

* * *

Elariia hopped off her Stormsaber and made her way down the slopped dock where three boats waited, all decorated with tiki faces and colourful paint. Darkspear trolls were definitely here. She barley had time to identify Commander Sharp before the man in question was speaking to her.

"Oh good, a druid. Maybe you'll have better luck dealing with these trolls." Maybe she was just paranoid, but was that a hint of sarcasm? "See what they want and try to get rid of them."

Elariia stepped forward and surveyed the group on the small rowboats. There were seven of them, all armed. Just enough to defend themselves if this got out of hand, yet not enough of them to look threatening. _This should be rather easy.._

She opened her mouth to greet them, but the troll on the middle boat beat her to it. "Dese be troublin' times for us Darkspear. Da Zandalar be reuniting all da troll clans an' plan to take back all da lands dey lost."

The night elf's mouth pulled down in a frown, "And why are you here? Shouldn't your tribe be doing something?"

The same troll as before answered, Elariia assumed she was the leader of the emissary party. "We tryin' to warn all dat we can. But we might be too late."

"Why would the Darkspear want to warn us?" Commander Sharp protested before Elariia could reply, the two guards behind him grumbled their agreement. She was getting tired of being interrupted. Didn't these people _want_her here?

"Another Darkspear gone down to Stranglethorn to warn da people," The troll continued as if she never heard the Commander. "But it ain't safe to travel alone in Stranglethorn."

It disappeared as fast as it came, but Elariia noticed the flicker of worry in the troll's eyes, "What do you need me to do?"

"Help me find him and make sure da people of Stranglethorn are warned of da rise of da troll tribes."

Even though she basically agreed to whatever the Darkspear were planning, the guards behind Elariia didn't relax their battle stances. She decided it didn't matter, her mind was made up.

"How are we going to do that, then?"

"I gonna bind my spirit wit' ya. When ya get to Stranglethorn, I be able to aid ya."

Elariia nodded, her forehead creased warily for a moment, then it was gone and she smiled. "Elariia. You are?"

The troll held out her hand in greeting, "Bwemba. We are very grateful for ya help, druid."

The night elf just nodded and shook her hand firmly.

"Da first place we check gonna be da place most likely to be attacked first. You call it Fort Livingston."

Elariia raised one long brow, she had been to Stranglethorn very few times, but the name was familiar. "Why is it most likely?"

"Fort Livingston be surrounded by troll ruins..." Bwemba started, but Elariia could guess what came next. "It make for an easy target."

She nodded. _Dumb place for anyone to hang about, who'd want to be surrounded by trolls?_

As if reading her thoughts, Bwemba's eyes glinted and her mouth moved into a smirk around her tusks, but she continued on in a neutral tone. "Maybe we find da emissary dere. Hopefully it ain't too late."

Suddenly there was a puff of blue, almost smokey, powder. Elariia's eyes widened, but otherwise kept her face indifferent.

The troll still noticed her surprise, "My spirit gonna be watchin' over ya, Elariia."

* * *

She had decided not to fly through Duskwood, she'd save more time if she went on foot rather than to inevitable get her wings caught in almost every spider's wed she tried to navigate through. Of course her mount didn't agree with her, he hated travelling at night, even more so in the rain. But eventually they had gotten to Northern Stranglethorn, and she expected to arrive in Fort Livingston shortly after.

Bwemba's spirit appeared beside her almost as soon as she entered the Vale, and even though she made little remarks about finding the emissary, Elariia tuned her out best she could. She didn't have a problem with magic, she _was_a druid, but the thought of spirits or ghosts made her a little uncomfortable. Of course she had died once, but it was a terrifying experience that she never wanted to repeat. So she made the trip in silence.

When they made it to Fort Livingston all Elariia could do was gape. _Dear Elune, what happened to this place?_

"Dis is Fort Livingston? It look like we already too late. Da Zandalar attack, it begun."

There were bodies everywhere, some weren't even dead. On the way in she noticed a few adventurers on the side of the road, they were a sickly green, but they were alive. Elariia didn't let herself worry until she made it to their destination. Guards were fending off most of the attacks, but she could tell they were getting desperate. _I thought this was going to be a troll attack? Why are there so many serpents?_

She lead her Stormsaber into the fort and towards a Livingston Marshal, "Excuse me.."

She couldn't finish her sentence. How was she supposed to explain her situation? Luckily the man seemed to realize what she was struggling with, "Another Darkspear emissary passed through some time ago telling us to be on our guard. He mentioned some other trolls may show up, but not in spirit form, and not escorted by a night elf druid."

That was as good an opening as any, Elariia had no choice but to explain. She'd have to wing it.

"I was informed the Zandalari were trying to take back the land they lost. We were going to warn you, but..." She trailed off and let her white orbs flicker to around the fort.

"Because of the emissary's warning we were able to gather more adventurers to help defend. But we thought we were going to be fighting trolls. Instead we found ourselves overwhelmed by serpents! They seem to have come from everywhere. We are barley able to hold on, and I only suspect it's going to get worse."

Elariia nodded, and eyed the man in determination, "What needs to be done?"

"Help us and eliminate the serpents and perhaps your troll friend here can use some magic to cure the poisoned."

She hopped off her mount and shifted to her cat form easily. After a quick survey of her surroundings she charged at a stray jungle serpent, bunched up her muscles and pounced. The snake-like creature turned on her and hissed, the sunlight gleaming off it's fangs. It darted forward angrily, and she leaped to one side, narrowly avoiding it's bite. Elariia growled and slashed her claws along it's side, causing greenish blood to ooze from it's scales. The serpent spun around and came at her again, this time managing to catch her shoulder in it's mouth.

Elariia ripped away from it, but was unable to do much more than that as she almost fell to the ground dazed. The serpent knocked it's head into her side and she fell, as the snake was about to tear into her stomach, she raked her paws down it's belly, claws unsheathed, shoulder protesting wildly. Her opponent gave one last hiss, a mix of pain and rage, before it sank to the ground as it's life drained from it. Elariia shoved it to the jungles floor and sat up, she looked to the entrance of the fort and saw Bwemba's spirit healing the poisoned adventurers and nodded to herself. She glanced back down at the serpent, but didn't bother changing forms to skin it.

She saw another snake slithering towards a guard that already had it's hands full with two others, and ran to intercept it. Elariia limped a few steps before shaking it off and charging towards her next fight, despite the pain in her shoulder. _I need to do this more often, _she thought as she leaped on the serpents back, _working with that archaeologist has made me soft._

* * *

**A/N 2**

**It took me forever to write that fight scene and it still sucked :( whateves. And I kept all the dialogue the same, I mean, would you change it? Sorry if you don't like what I made my character say in reply, but I figured she should say **_**something, **_**y'know? There's probably an easier way to get to Stranglethorn Vale then going through Duskwood, but I really haven't been there very often.. R&R.**


	3. High Priests

**A/N  
**  
**Is it sad that this is the longest thing I've ever written? Yes. Do I care? No.  
**  
**Disclaimer: Do I own World of Warcraft. Do I own Blizzard? Do you even have to ask? No.  
**

* * *

"Thanks for the help, Elariia. These serpents, there doesn't appear to be an end to them." The Livingston Marshal nodded to the night elf. There was visibly less tension around him after she had taken care of most of the serpents.

Elariia just smiled tightly in response as she turned to Bwemba's spirit, who had just floated to her side after healing as many poisoned adventurers as she could.

"Dere was somethin' not right about dem serpents, Elariia. Dere was a trace of some bad mojo in da poison an' dat don't happen naturally."

Her eyebrows creased in worry, "Well, what do we do?" She wasn't used to feeling completely powerless, and so far she wasn't liking it.

"Da bonfire in da middle of da camp, we can use dat to preform a ritual." The troll explained, "Whatever be makin' dese serpents attack, dey probably still watchin' over dem."

"Okay, let's do it." But Bwemba didn't do anything.

"Da only problem, Elariia, is dat I only be here in spirit form. I need you to be my hands. I need you to go to the fire an' prepare it for me. Den I'll handle the rest." She reassured.

Elariia hesitated for a moment, before striding over to the fire pit. "So, how do I do this?"

"Just sprinkle some of dis over the fire." Bwemba said as she pushed a small leather packet through the air towards the night elf. It was translucent, almost as if it was a spirit too, until Elariia grabbed at it and the mist surrounding it disappeared, the bag dropped into her open palms.

She did as asked, and poured the powder over the bonfire, immediately it made the flames glow blue.

"Now let's see what Bwemba's conjured up..." The troll murmured to herself as she stared, transfixed with the dancing flames.

Elariia watched just as intently, albeit a bit confused, when suddenly a big green puff of smoke appeared next to the bonfire and she jumped back in surprise. A troll appeared through the smoke, and he looked less than pleased with the two of them.

"You disssssturb the plans of Gurubashi, little one." He hissed, "It'sss too late for you. Too late for all of you! My ssssserpents, dey already ssssslither beneath every rock an' shrub of Ssssstranglethorn."

Her hand flew to the dagger on her side, but she didn't pull it out. She wouldn't be able to attack someone in a spirit form!

"We will reclaim thisss land. Gurubashi land. An' we kill anyone dat getssss in our way!"

There was another burst of smoke, bigger this time, and the troll was gone. Bwemba's face was drawn and grave, which did nothing to quell Elariia's fears.

"Dis is serious business. Venoxis ain't one to trifle wit'."

Venoxis? Was that his name?

"High Priest Venoxis?" She's heard of him, his name came up in a few of the books she read in the Stormwind Keep library. Not that she was paying much attention, of course.

"Venoxis..." Bwemba whispered to herself, before snapping back into focus and turning to the night elf. "Dis can't be good, Elariia."

She was about to demand an explanation, when a new voice almost made her jump. Almost. She was good at hiding her surprise, though for some reason this troll kept seeing through her.

"Great, just what we need, the Gurubashi on the rampage using serpents to lead the charge." It was that Livingston Marshal again. "Well, at least we know that much."

Which wasn't much at all, in Elariia's opinion. "Right. I think we're done here. Bwemba?" She looked to the spirit to confirm, but the Marshal interrupted.

"It's probably a safe bet that the hunters at Nesingwary's Expedition have some insight into this. If they don't they at least know how to fight the serpents." She nodded before she could stop herself. She knew what was coming. "Head there and let them know what you saw here. Let them know that the trolls are using serpents as their weapons."

_Elune, help me. I thought I was here for a troll emissary?_

Bwemba's thoughts seemed to echo her own, "What kinda mess did we stumble into?"

Elariia just sighed and started towards her mount, "Sorry, bud." She murmured, patting his side. "Guess this isn't over yet."

* * *

Elariia eased into a walk when they got to Nesingwary's Expedition. There were jungle serpent's everywhere, only unlike Fort Livingston all of them were dead.

"Da hunters seem to be holdin' da serpents off." Bwemba noted, "But sometin' else feel wrong... Like we bein' watched."

She had noticed it too, the spine tingling feeling of eyes on you.. She'd always hated it.

Elariia led her mount towards the dwarf standing in the middle of the camp with his gun hoisted onto his hip. He seemed to be in charge here.

She nodded to him, "Elariia."

"Hemet Nesingwary Jr." He greeted.

"We came to warn you about..." She trailed off, she clearly didn't need to say it.

"We know all about the serpents, Elariia. But there is something else out there lurking... The jungle has come to life, druid!"

Her glowing eyes widened, "What do you mean? I was just out there, besides the usual Vale creatures all I saw were serpents."

"We've been fending off serpents for days now, Elariia. But the serpents are nothing compared to what else is out in that jungle. We hunters are being hunted"

She shared a look with Bwemba's spirit before motioning for him to continue.

"A large panther named Mauti has been dragging my men off into the bush." And it's watching them? Even now? "We sent Grent Direhammer, one of our best hunters, to track this beast down."

"Where is he now?" Elariia demanded. She had a feeling not even their best could do this alone.

"Direhammer headed off to the east, perhaps you can find them there."

She nodded and pulled on the reins, her mount responded by turning towards an entryway to the jungle. Elariia took off, Bwemba's spirit floating behind her.

She soon came to a stop in front of a rocky slope, her Stormsaber couldn't climb it and going around and up would take to long, according to the twisting feeling in her stomach. Elariia hopped out of the saddle and shifted into her flight form mid jump. She flapped her wings a few times, shaking the stiffness gathered there from keeping them dormant, and charged into the air for a birds eye view.

She soared over the hill that was propping up a long wooden bridge, and realizing she couldn't see a thing, swooped under the trees. Elariia must have timed it perfectly as she came face-to-beak with a dwarf with a green cloak and red beard. He jumped from his kneeling position on a small outcropping of rocks and stared at her, wide eyed.

He shouted in surprise at the same time she cawed and flew backwards.

Elariia shook her feathered head and changed back into a night elf, landing gracefully on a flattened boulder. She swore if she wasn't already purple she'd be blushing. _Way to make yourself look like a complete fool._

She coughed lightly into her hand and smiled sheepishly, "Hello. I'm looking for Grent Direhammer, are you him?"

After the dwarf recovered from the slight shock he scowled at her, "Shhh! You'll alert the beast to my whereabouts."

_As if all your girly screaming didn't already do that, _she thought bitterly.

"I am Grent. What do you need?" He asked her after he stood, bringing himself to his full height. Elariia had to resist kneeling down to speak with him.

"My name is Elariia. Nesingwary sent me to check on you..." She trailed off as he bent down and sniffed the jungle floor. "If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing?"

Grent looked up at her, "The beast that's been hunting us... I've been hunting it. We call him Mauti. He's a clever one. But he made a grave mistake when he killed my brother. Now that mistake is going to cost him. Ol' Direhammer has got his scent."

"His... scent? Literally?"

"I've noticed him roaming just above Kurzen's Compound." He continued as if she never spoke, "If we act fast, we can take him down. Are you ready, Elariia?"

She sighed and ran a hand down her face, "Yeah, alright."

"Excellent." He grinned and stood up

At least the worried knot in her stomach was finally loosening.

* * *

After navigating through the jungle, _on foot, _they had finally reached Kurzen's Compound and were now climbing up the ridge where Grent claimed Mauti was hiding.

"Just, hold on a minute there, lass."

Elariia barley suppressed a groan of annoyance, she had barley suppressed a lot of those since they began their hike. She paused on a long plateau, peered over the side and watched as an out of breath Grent attempted to grab onto a rock that she could clearly see was loose.

"You probably shouldn't–"

"Gah!"

"Too late."

She grabbed onto his arm, seconds before he smacked his head against the ledge they had just been on, and pulled him up easily. "What kind of hunter are you?"

"We're hunters," He panted, "Not mountain goats."

He rested his hands on his knees, then righted himself after he caught his breath. "Right. Let's get on with it then." He started to walk out onto the open plateau when Elariia grasped onto his shoulder and pulled him to the ground.

"Get down!" But she was too late.

There was a feral snarl as the large black panther charged at them. Elariia jumped over it, and in it's confusion she dug her dagger into it's back. She didn't have to change forms as it collapsed to the ground without putting up a fight.

_Was that Mauti? Seemed a little too easy._

"Let's see what we got here..." The dwarf stood up and hovered over the corpse, "Hmm... The beast looks smaller than I would have thought."

There was a ground breaking roar and in a flurry of action, a panther, bigger than any nightsaber she'd ever seen, with flaming green eyes and giant fangs leaped from the bushes and picked Grent up in it's mouth.

_**"It's got me!"**_

Elariia tried to help him, tried to _move, _but it felt as if her entire body was locked up. She watched as the panther, Mauti, leaped away from her, dwarf and all.

After a few seconds of complete silence, she was able to move again. She fell to her knees and gasped, she hated being stunned, it made her feel as if she were suffocating. She regained her senses stared in the direction the panther had taken off in.

Well that explained why "Mauti" seemed smaller, looks like the real Mauti was tracking Grent Direhammer all along. Credit where credit is due. Clever beast.

She glanced at Bwemba's spirit, who looked as shocked as she was. Elariia stood up and pointed into the distance, "Follow that cat!"

She had always wanted to say that.

* * *

Being the wise hunter that he is, Grent had fired all of his flairs, leaving a smoking trail so Elariia could track him. She had flown halfway around Zul'Gurub, but she finally found Mauti's Lair overlooking a small, secluded lake. It was actually quite pretty, if you looked over the giant dwarf-eating cat. Apeaking of which, was now asleep near a cave with some sort of ogre markings on it.

She was thinking of a game plan when she heard Bwemba's voice from behind her, "We be here... Da hunter, he be in da cave. Da beast... Sometin' ain't right about her..."

Elariia turned her head slightly to look at the spirit, but Bwemba didn't seem to be speaking to her. She was staring intently at the cat, but suddenly jumped out of her thoughts and looked at the night elf flying beside her, "I got da feeling dat somethin' ain't right wit dat panther, Elariia. It ain't natural. I gonna need to preform some rituals over da body. Put Mauti down, an' den let's see what we can find out, Elariia."

She landed near the beast, and changed into her cat form as she jumped on it. It woke up with a pained yowl, and shook it's big shoulders, trying to throw off the druid clamping down on it's back. Elariia had stunned it at first, but knew as soon as it came to, it would be a hard fight to win. It was huge! Mauti slammed itself into a nearby tree, forcing Elariia to release it's shoulder to catch her breath. She stood up and rolled away as it swiped at her with claws the size of daggers. Elariia charged at it and rammed into it's side, but it had almost no effect, only causing the panther to stumble slightly.

_I can't use blunt force against it, it's too big. I'll have to evade it._

Mauti tried clawing her again, but Elariia dodged by darting between it's front legs. She then raked her claws down it's underbelly, before jumping away from it. The cat snarled in annoyance as yet another of it's attacks were dodged, resulting in claws being slashed all across it's body. Mauti grew enraged and jumped towards the druid, but only managed to nip at her tail. Elariia jumped on it's back once again and bit down on it's neck, feeling her teeth scrape against bone. The beast gave one last, painful growl as it slumped to the ground, dead.

The night elf let go of Mauti and panted slightly. There was a giant puff of smoke just above her and the body, and Elariia jumped away from it with a small yelp.

Bwemba floated near her, "Ah... It be Kilnara. I shoulda known she be involved here."

There was another troll, hovering over the cat's body with green mist floating all around her. "You kill him - you kill my cat! Why must I suffer so?" She cried out in anguish. Then her cold eyes flashed towards Elariia, as if only noticing her now she composed herself, "Stranglethorn belongs to the Gurubashi. You best be leavin' before we bury you here. Or stay, if you want. We always be needin' more sacrifices."

The troll, Kilnara, cackled maniacally before disappearing in another burst of blue smoke.

"Da Gurubashi be usin' all sorts of voodoo to reclaim dere land." Bwemba whispered. "High Priestess Kilnara be behind dis abomination." She said to Elariia, who was looking over her wounds in distaste. Her usually spotless white pelt was covered in blood and deep scratches, and she was sure she'd have a few bruises from being slammed into that tree truck.

"Dis ain't looking good. We should see to da dwarf and then make our way to see what other trouble be goin' on."

Elariia shifted back into a night elf and walked into the cave carefully, she stopped in her tracks when she saw a panther cub sitting next to Grent, who looked to be out cold. _Mauti was a... a mother?_

She kneeled and pushed the cub gently away from the hunter, but it just came back, playing with his feet. She sighed, giving the dwarf a hard punch on the chest making him groan.

"Oh... Me spine... Brother, is that you?"

The druid rolled her eyes, "Of course I'm not your brother you overgrown gnome. Get up."

"Ah... It's you, Elariia." Grent sat up and rubbed his back. "You look like hell. Mauti...?"

"In worse shape than me, I'm sure."

"...He's dead? Then my brother has been avenged. I've only one request for ya... This scamp here," He gestured to the cub, "He's been pawing at me bare feet. No dwarf should go to the earth with bare feet. Please, bury with me boots."

Elariia nodded solemnly, and looked around the cave. Where _were _his boots? She got up and searched through the rubble and finally noticed the cub had a new plaything. _Ah ha!_

She smiled a little and picked up the leather boots, "Sorry, kitty. Not for you." Elariia brought the boots over to the dwarf, who had resumed lying down and was now breathing shallowly.

"Do ya have me boots? Grant a dwarf his last request will ya?"

"Got 'em right here.."

She handed him the boots and Grent slipped them onto his feet weakly, "Th-thank ye, lass." His eyes glazed over as he stared into the cave roof, not really seeing. "Pappy...? Is that... you..."

And he was gone.

She watched as Bwemba's spirit used her magic to cover Grent's body in dirt. Elariia was about to stand up, but the panther cub jumped into her lap and looked at her with a look in it's eyes that said, "Will you be my new mom?" And she couldn't refuse.

"Dis death ain't be in vain, Elariia. We figure out dat Kilnara be on da prowl. Tings don't look good."

Elariia nodded and walked out of the cave, both the cub and Bwemba following after her.

"We better check out da Rebel Camp to da north. Maybe we find my contact dere."

* * *

**A/N  
**  
**I added that scene with the powder being sprinkled over the fire, because really you just click on it, and I couldn't write that... XD  
**  
**Next chapter will be at the Rebel Camp!**


	4. Zul'Gurub

Getting to the Rebel Camp wasn't easy. First she had to fly back to Nesingwary's Expedition with the panther cub, that she'd nicknamed Mauti, sitting on her head, then she had to inform Hemet Nesingwary Jr. that the camp's best hunter wasn't coming back. She had wandered into the forest to collect her abandoned Stormsaber at that time so she could give them a moment of piece. Finally, she headed up the serpent infested path towards the Rebel Camp, the cub wedged between the saddle and reins. Adding insult to injury, it had started to rain.

When she made it to the camp she was cold and muddy, there were Gurubashi trolls everywhere, fighting against the rebels and the whole situation seemed hopeless in as bad a state as she was in. Of course, this hadn't stopped the night elf before. She went straight to the leader.

"First we had snakes, then we had panthers, now we have trolls." He growled, fighting off a troll bigger than any Darkspear she'd ever seen. "It's good that you're here, we could use all the help we can get."

She nodded, "Elariia."

"Lieutenant Doran."

"We're looking for a Darkspear emissary," She gestured to Bwemba's spirit. "Have you seen him?"

"We are in trouble here, Elariia. Your troll friend has been through here and warned us that things were going to get serious, but I didn't think it was going to get this bad."

Elariia observed the camp. Everyone was fighting, there wasn't a free hand anywhere, even a Gryphon was charging at a few of the trolls, but they still looked desperate.

"We are doing our best to hold off these trolls. But any help you can offer would greatly help."

She had barley agreed to help out, when she heard Bwemba's choked gasp behind her, "I don't believe my eyes... Is dat Bloodlord Mandokir? Dis gonna be bad..."

A troll, riding on a big black raptor strolled into the entrance of the camp, looking smug, yet angry. Following beside him was a tiny, red baby raptor.

"Da Gurubashi be takin' our land back. We let you stay here too long. You tink you strong. You tink you brave. You tink you can survive? But we know..."

He trailed off ominously, and Elariia noticed the young raptor beside him looked at her with almost pleading eyes. _What in Azeroth?_

Mandokir continued, "You and all you people, you already be dead. An' once you dead, den you serve the Gurubashi." He looked to the trolls around him before shouting, "Kill these worms!" and taking off before Elariia could even zap him with some magic.

"Dese Gurubashi mean business." Bwemba scowled. "We gotta help dese people."

She dismounted quickly, pushing her Stormsaber to the side of the camp, but before she could switch forms, she felt a white hot pain in the back of her skull. She landed hard on the ground, then twisted her body so she could see what hit her.

Standing over her was a large green troll with a bright red Mohawk and seemingly random face paint, he was grinning maliciously at her around his tusks. Elariia scanned him quickly and didn't have to be Lieutenant Horatio Laine to conclude that he must have hit her over the head with the large wooden plank he was carrying. She rolled onto her back as he brought the plank back down, attempting to finish her off.

Maybe it was oncoming concussion, or maybe the adrenaline pumping through her veins, but as she stood up and the troll pursued her, Elariia didn't even think to pull out her dagger. She just started walking backwards while reaching to the left, hoping to grab something, _anything, _to defend herself with, her focus never leaving her attacker. The night elf flinched when there was a burning sensation on her hand, she glanced to the side and noticed a long wooden torch embedded in the dirt next to the Gryphon roost and realized she had just stuck her hand into the flame.

Her glowing irises flickered between the troll and the torch. _I have to time this perfectly or he'll see it coming. _

He chuckled darkly and lifted the plank, intending to smash it against her already banged up head. But as he held it in the air ready for a vertical strike, Elariia yanked the torch from the jungle floor and slashed it across his chest leaving angry red burns. The Gurubashi yelled in pain and dropped the plank, it landed just beside her foot and she kicked it away, feigning nonchalance. She shrugged with a grin on her face, of course that just enraged him.

He swung at her with his fists but she danced out of the way, then smacked the still burning torch across his back. The troll spun around and managed to knock the torch from her hand with his meaty elbow. Sensing the weakness in her defense Elariia jumped around him again and finally pulled out her weapon, she grabbed her opponent by the back of his armor and pulled him down to her level, pressing the knife painfully into his windpipe.

Elariia let him struggle in fear for a moment before she released him and he ran into the jungle, gasping for air. _He'll come back. Giving up isn't the troll way._

She quickly morphed into a cat, then leaped at her next target.

* * *

She now had a banged up shoulder, a bruised ribcage and a concussion, add to that the less serious wounds she gained from her fighting, and she was in a very poor condition, but the adrenaline was still coursing through her and she felt as if she could last for days. Alas, it was only three minutes before the Lieutenant called her towards him.

"Thanks for giving us a bit of a breather, Elariia. Like I said before, your troll friend was here for a small amount of time. He warned us, then left."

Bwemba's eyes creased in disappointment through her skull mask, and Elariia smiled tightly.

"James Stillair helped him get to his next destination, maybe he can help you out. Good luck out there, Elariia."

"Elune guide you, Doran."

She turned towards the Gryphon master as he called out to her, "Elariia! I know where the other emissary went."

He waved to her as she walked over to him, "That's great."

"The other Darkspear emissary was here briefly. He was eager to get to his next destination and warn them. I sent him on a flight to the Explorers' League Digsite in the Cape of Stranglethorn. I hope he wasn't too late."

"Can one of your Gryphons get me to the Digsite?"

He grinned, "Of course, druid. It'll be a direct flight there."

* * *

As she flew over the Digsite, Elariia couldn't believe her eyes. _This whole place is crawling with... with zombies!_

The Gryphon land easily in the middle of the camp, and as soon as she climbed off of it, it took off quicker than she thought was possible. Must have been spooked.. The zombies had blueish flesh and bandages hanging off their limbs, and their faces were covered by giant tiki masks. There wasn't a live dwarf in this place!

"Da people... Dey all zombies, voodoo zombies! Dis ain't gonna be pretty, Elariia." Bwemba warned, "You gotta kill dem."

What? Was there no way to turn them back, then?

"But once dey killed, dere is a moment where I can save dem. Change them back into da person dey were before."

Elariia sighed in relief, "Okay. Good."

"We gotta act fast. Da zombies don' rest."

And so she spent the rest of the afternoon jumping on zombies, it was hard. If she ignored the rotten flesh taste and bit down somewhere the creature would just shed it's limb with no protest, but she managed, finally. Bwemba kept up the pace right after her, reversing the voodoo and turning them back into dwarfs. It was kinda funny, in her opinion, watching the survivors freak out.

After saving as many Explorers as she could, Elariia tilted her muzzle to he sky and let the rain wash away the blood and dirt sticking to her pelt.

Soon, Bwemba's spirit floated over to her, "We done enough, Elariia. We can't keep fighting dese zombies. We need to figure out da source of dis voodoo. An' I tink I know where to start..." The trolls next words confirmed that they were on the same page, "Some of da survivors mentioned food, Elariia. We better check da food supplies. I gotta bad feelin' about dis."

Elariia padded towards the bags of food in the middle of camp and sniffed around for awhile, then jumped back with a growl when a blue cloud of smoke appeared next to the cart. There was another troll, muttering to himself while messing with the food.

"A pinch of dis... A dash of dat... Heh heh! Oh, Zanzil, Zanzil... I jes' love dat voodoo dat you do!" The druid tilted her head to the side as she waited for this new troll –Zanzil, she guessed– to notice them. "Slaves... Zombies... It don' matter to Zanzil! Dey all serve Gurubashi, one way or de other..."

There was another choking puff of smoke and the troll disappeared again. Elariia looked to Bwemba in complete confusion.

"Zanzil... Dis is all startin' to come together now." _Is it? Because I am completely turned around. _"If I can find my contact den we can formulate a plan of attack. A way to end dis madness."

Elariia shifted forms and squinted at the spirit through the heavy rain, she was about to speak when she heard a pitiful moan from behind her. She spun around, hand resting on the hip she kept her dagger holstered on as she searched for the source of the noise. She relaxed when she saw a dwarf huddled near a tent, how had she missed him? He wasn't exactly hiding himself. Elariia made her way towards him carefully.

"You aren't one of the zombies..." He murmured.

Elariia smiled weakly, "Sorry to disappoint, but no. We're looking for a troll emissary, have you come across him?"

"A troll? I did see one, just before the outbreak... He warned us, told us to be on our guard... But it was too late."

Damn, another dead end... She looked down at the dizzy dwarf, "Do you know where he went?"

"Your troll friend headed to Booty Bay, to warn them..." She nodded in thanks before heading off.

She'd only been to Booty Bay once, and that was because of the name. Now she'd have to fly all the way to the end of the Cape. _I wonder what we'll be facing there... Dragon's perhaps?_

* * *

When Elariia got to Booty Bay she was shocked. Words could not explain her surprise. The sight that greeted them was just astonishing, there was seaweed littered all over the place and most of the buildings were destroyed in one way or another...

Everything was normal.

She changed back into a night elf and landed gently near the entrance, then vaulted over the railing and onto the dock just below before weaving through the swarm of goblins.

"We should check the inn, first." She murmured to Bwemba's spirit, who nodded.

The Salty Sailor Tavern... Charming. She walked purposefully towards the innkeeper.

"Come in, come in. Just don't sit to close to the stove. It hasn't exploded yet today, but just to be safe I think you should sit elsewhere."

Elariia rolled her eyes."I'm looking for a troll emissary. Is he here?" She asked with forced politeness.

"Yeah, yeah. He's just upstairs, go ahead."

She nodded her thanks and headed up the creaky wooden steps. This inn was disgusting, she swore she saw a couple of cockroaches and at least one rat. Elariia walked through the giant barrel until she finally found the emissary standing on the balcony.

"Excuse me...?" She trailed off when she realized who she was talking too. Vol'jin, leader of the Darkspear trolls, was standing in front of her.

If he noticed her surprise he didn't show it, "I be tellin' Baron Revilgaz about da Zalandar threat now..."

"Ahh dere you are!" Bwemba's spirit shouted as she floated down from the sky, "We been searching the entire jungle for ya."

"I see you were able to get some help."

"Da help's been good. Da Zalandari plan has set da Gurubashi on da warpath."

Vol'jin nodded gravely. "I know. It be why I went around, to warn everyone. When da leader of da Darkspear speak, everybody listen, Horde an' Alliance."

"Not all da places held together so well. We try to help as much as we can. But the source, it be Zul'Gurub." Bwemba informed him.

"Den dat be where we go next. We gonna stop dis uprising at da source."

At that point, Baron Revilgaz made his presence known, "If you can keep my town safe, I'll definitely make it worth your while." The goblin offered with a nervous grin.

"I got a few more tings to discuss here." Vol'jin continued, looking at Elariia. "Den I'll head to Zul'Gurub. I will see you dere in da morning."

Elariia nodded briskly before making her way back to the tavern, Bwemba following closely behind her. As she absently thought about how much a room there cost, or if she'd be better off roughing it, the troll's spirit hovered in front of her, bringing her to a stop.

"Dere ya have it, Elariia. It look like we gonna lead an assault on da Gurubashi in Zul'Gurub. Dese be dire times for us Darkspear. But dey be even more dire for the Zalandar. Dey goin' too far." Though she couldn't see past her mask, the night elf guessed Bwemba was glaring fiercely "Ya been good to Bwemba, hopefully ya gonna continue to help out all of Stranglethorn." Oh no. No, no no, she could not do the heartfelt goodbye thing right now. No. "Spirits be wit' ya, Elariia."

With a small cloud of dust, she was gone. Elariia sighed in relief and slumped against the wall. Quick and painless.

Baron Revilgaz had intercepted her just as she was checking out the rooms and told her that since she was helping to save his town, she'd get first class treatment. She'd be lying if she said she didn't jump at the chance of better living quarters, if only for just a night or two. The inns walls were rounded and made her feel weirdly disoriented.

Elariia soon found out her new space wasn't that much better than the room at the inn. She was staying in a small bedroom above someone named "Sea Dog." There was stale bread, cheese and beer on the table and dust covered every surface.

After an hour or two of just lying in bed, Elariia realized trying to sleep would be pointless. She searched the beside drawer and found a big, dusty book.

"The Sentinels and the Long Vigil..." She murmured. Hmm, she'd only read this one once.

Bright and early the next morning, there was a pounding on her door. Elariia jumped out of bed fully alert and she only relaxed when she heard Baron Revilgaz calling her name through the thick wood. The druid sighed and rubbed her temples. Was she really that bad? Ready to slice anyone that startled her? Elariia walked towards the door and opened it slowly, her hair was down and it always made her feel childish. Like no one would take her seriously.

"Look, Elariia." He started. Now that she'd realize there was no immediate danger, she could feel the fatigue creeping into her muscles and blurring her vision. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd slept, for more than a few hours, peacefully. "You've helped out plenty so far, but that's not going to be enough. I need these crazy trolls stopped, or at least stopped from getting into Booty Bay. I'm going to send a man in to oversee the action, but I want you to go into Zul'Gurub and make something happen." The Baron's voice was very irritating when she was tired. "At the very least I want you to find me something that will help keep these trolls out of Booty Bay! You do that and we'll treat you right."

She supposed that was an offer she couldn't really refuse. Elariia just needed to eat, drink, maybe even wash up if she found a clean lake anywhere around here, then she'd have enough energy to infiltrate Zul'Gurub. She had a feeling Vol'jin wouldn't mind if she brought along a couple of friends for support, she'd just have to make a formal request to Stormwind and she'd have a mage, a priest, a warrior and maybe even a couple paladins here by noon.

* * *

**A/N**

**I might add just one more chapter, to rap everything up because, sadly, I don't have enough Heroic points (or whatever) to actually do this dungeon. Sadface.**

Disclaimer: I do not own WoW.


	5. Lost Kitten

She hung onto the branch with both hands, only letting go to wipe away the sweat pooling at her brow, her nails dug into the bark and she hoisted herself higher and higher. She couldn't afford a slip up, there was a life at risk and it wasn't her own.

When Elariia had agreed to this rescue mission she had thought it'd be easy, had rolled her eyes at the sheer simplicity of it. She'd never even known trees could grow so big in this part of Azeroth!

_Goddess what have I gotten myself into?_

There was a gap between the night elf and the next branch and she knew she would have to jump, as it was slightly bigger than the others. Elariia crouched as well as she could, bunched up her muscles and vaulted forward. Just when she thought she had made it her left hand slipped, unable to find a handhold on the wood. Luckily her right hand clutched a small knot, or she would have fallen.

She pulled her upper body onto the branch, and it pressed into her stomach uncomfortably. Elariia barley noticed though, as her eyes locked onto her target, huddling against the trunk just above her. It blinked at her with it's impassive amber eyes and opened it's mouth, but the druid was too far away to hear it. Elariia grinned in triumph before climbing the little ways up to reach small grey bundle, then tucked it into the crook of her elbow gently,

"You've caused quite a fuss, little one. Your mother is worried sick." She murmured though her attention was focused on climbing back down, which she now realized would be a hundred times harder one-handed.

She would have flown up the tree, but she wasn't sure she'd be able to convince the runaway to climb on her back like she had her newest companion. Soon enough, Elariia hopped from the lowest branch she could find, landed safely on the forest floor and reflected on the chain of events that landed her here, while absentmindedly scratching behind the ears of the furry creature in her arms.

After she made her request to Stormwind, four of the Eastern Kingdoms greatest heroes had made their separate ways to Stranglethorn Vale. Elariia was so hyped up that she couldn't remember muche, but she and the other four had infiltrated Zul'Gurub and in mere hours put an end to the Zalandar and Gurubashi raids. She'd picked up her mount and panther cub from the Rebel Camp then headed back to Stormwind, and as she was riding through the Trade District, on her way to the Harbor she'd heard a heartbreaking sob and quickly tried to find the source. Elariia had spotted an obviously upset woman leaning against the Hero's Call Board.

_Has no one helped her yet?_ she'd thought to herself.

It only took a split second of internal debate for the night elf to hop off of her Stormsaber and march towards the blonde woman. She reassured her and told her she would help, only to have the lady break down in another fit of hysterical cries. Happy cries, but it still made her uncomfortable…

So here she was now, walking towards the Crazy Cat Lady's house in Elwynn forest after saving a kitten from a tree.

Elariia snapped out of memory lane as she saw the cottage come into view, with Donni waiting anxiously for her.

"Opal! Oh my darling, darling Opal…"

Elariia smiled warmly, it was a good couple of days.

* * *

**A/N**

**I added this chapter because Donni kept nagging me about helping her cat. She's really a piece of work, that one... I know this is extremely short but like I said before I can't do the actual dungeon yet. This was kind of an epilogue, just wrapping things up. I didn't know how to end it either... I might fix it up later.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned World of Warcraft I'd probably add clowns as a race.**


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